ghost // jeon jeongguk ff

☪

08 • 11 • 16

she was screaming for help. she paddled her arms and legs, fighting for her life.

she was dying while i was watching.

"help me!" she begged, but my body was paralyzed. i couldn't move, i didn't know what to do, i was scared.

i took my bicycle and pedaled my way out of that place. i mentally scolded myself. "how could you just leave her like that?!"

her screams for help sooner fade away as my distance from the river was getting further. i reached my apartment. i dropped my bag somewhere on the floor. i laid down on the sofa and curled myself into a ball.

i felt guilty for not helping her. i felt guilty for being a coward. i felt guilty for not coming back to rescue her. i felt guilty for letting her die.

i let the eerie silence wrap around my cold body. i started to hear noises. no, whispers. i pressed my index fingers on my ears, lessening the sound. after a moment of silence, i took my fingers off my ears.

"why didn't you help me?"

i'm sorry.

08 • 10 • 17

"we have a new student everyone, please introduce yourself."

i forced a smile. "hi everyone, my name is jeon jeongguk."

"i hope each and one of you will be nice to him. is that clear?" the teacher asked.

"yes." the students answered in unison.

"take any seat you'd like." my eyes wandered around the room until i spotted an empty seat beside a girl.

"i would like to introduce myself since there are two new students. i am your teacher in chemistry, history and your homeroom teacher, miss ahn."

miss ahn started discussing and i didn't pay a speck of attention. "hi i'm yulhee, i'm also new here." my seatmate said and offered her hand for a handshake.

"hey, i'm jeongguk." i shook my hand with her.

"so, what makes you move to a new school?"

"uhm, n-no apparent reason," i said and smiled awkwardly. "how about you?"

"oh. things happened. i don't wanna talk about it." she chuckled and paid attention to miss ahn.

i also did the same. three periods ended quickly and the bell rung, indicating its lunch time. i fixed my stuff and stood up, ready to leave.

"oh, can i seat with you? i mean, don't take this the wrong way, but i hate eating alone and i'm pretty new so i haven't met anyone except you. is it okay?" yulhee asked with a wide smile.

"sorry, but i don't really eat lunch." i rejected her offer and left her alone in the classroom.

as my foot landed outside the main door of my classroom, three girls were outside holding a heart shaped gift containers with ribbons on it.

"hi oppa! welcome to hana academy!" the three girls spoke in unison. i chuckled to myself before proudly rejecting their gifts.

i was looking for my locker when someone approached me. "hey, i'm sejun. i'm the president of this school. are you looking for your locker?"

"uhm, yeah." i replied awkwardly. wow, everyone is just too friendly.

he signalled me to follow him. about a couple of minutes, we reached a green locker. next to it is a locker with wood planks nailed on it.

"what happened with this locker?" i asked curiously, my eyebrows forming a bridge.

"oh, its the locker of a student who used to go here. she's no longer with us." he answered calmly. i shivered at his words.

"can i know her name?" i asked.

"her name is lee violetta. very pretty girl and smart too."

"what happened to her?"

"no one knows. she just disappeared and never came back. no one really knows if she's dead or not. she just disappeared with her stepfather."

"stepfather?"

"yep. her mother died because of breast cancer. poor little thing. she was really nice to everyone. she's always smiling even though we know she's dying inside. everytime we asked what's wrong, she'll say she's okay and its nothing," he said with a flat voice. i guess they're all used to it. "tomorrow is her first death anniversary though."

my hands trembled and my palms were getting wet. i thanked sejun and went back to my classroom. i took my seat and silently watched my classmates movement.

"oh, right! i just remembered, tomorrow is violet's first death anniversary!" one of my classmates suddenly yelled. everyone started murmuring and whispering to each other. i bowed my head down and rested my forehead on my arm.

"did you know my grandmother used to tell me that, if its a dead persons first death anniversary, it's ghost will break free and haunt everyone who owes him/her?"

i lifted my head up and saw yulhee reading a book beside me. "everyone's talking about that dead girl." she said with an expression i couldn't recognize. "if what that girl said is true, then i guess she'll haunt us tomorrow."